Left vows to keep BJP at bay

NEW DELHI, March 5: The Politburo of the CPIM today declared that it would do everything to stop the BJP from forming a government at the ...

NEW DELHI, March 5: The Politburo of the CPIM today declared that it would do everything to stop the BJP from forming a government at the Centre. 8220;The Politburo wants that all efforts should be made to stop the BJP forming a government as it hasn8217;t got a majority,8221; Politburo member Prakash Karat said.

Karat refused to spell out the Left Front8217;s strategy on forming an alternate government in case the BJP failed to get the requisite numbers. But his colleague, Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar, in an article in the party organ Deshabhimani was quoted as saying that his party was not in favour of joining a political alliance with the Congress.

Nayanar, whose chief political rival in the State is the Congress, also ambiguously added in his weekly column that the CPM did not favour a non-BJP Government at the Centre.

Nayanar8217;s statements, made in Kerala today, seemed a reiteration of the unhappiness voiced by CPM leaders from the State yesterday during the Politburo meeting here. They are believed tohave said that Surjeet had 8220;jumped the gun8221; by going to Congress president Sitaram Kesri and saying the UF would back any leader of his choosing.

In his column, according to PTI, Nayanar also attacked the 8220;Hindu communal fascism of the BJP,8221; but added that the CPM had never compromised on opposing the economic liberalisation policy and the 8220;corrupt working style8221; of the Congress.

He is said to have stated that the elections had showed not the strength of the Congress but its weakness. In a State like Uttar Pradesh with 85 seats, the Congress had not secured a single seat, Nayanar reportedly said.At this crucial juncture, the President should ensure that those staking claims to form a government really had the requisite majority, he said. The consideration should not be whether the party was the single largest one but whether it had absolute majority, the CPIM Politburo member added.

One view about all these seemingly contradictory statements is that a non-BJP government at the Centre could beheaded by a UF leader rather than someone from the Congress.

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A CPM leader from Kerala, somewhat relaxed today after disagreeing with Surjeet8217;s line on openly backing the Congress at the Politburo meeting yesterday, said: 8220;Let the Congress repent and support a UF government at the Centre.8221;

Left leaders also privately added that they would 8220;fight the BJP every inch of the way,8221; indicating that unless Chandrababu Naidu8217;s TDP leaned towards the BJP, it might not yet be a cakewalk for the party.

The leaders conceded that Naidu with his 12 MPs held the key to the success of any non-BJP formation. They admitted that Naidu was under immense pressure to support the BJP, especially since it is believed that his lieutenants are arguing that most of the Muslim votes did not come to the TDP.